:''To be distinguished from his ancestor of the same name, August Hermann Francke.'' A H Francke Portrait

August Hermann Francke (5 November 1870 in Gnadenfrei,

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

– 16 February 1930 in Berlin) was a German

Tibetologist Tibetology () refers to the study of things related to Tibet, including its history, religion, language, culture, politics and the collection of Tibetan articles of historical, cultural and religious significance. The last may mean a collection of ...

. He worked in

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu ...

and Lahul from 1896 to 1908 and published the Ladakh chronicles (''La dvags rgyal rabs'') with an English translation. He served as the first professor of Tibetan at the

Berlin University Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

Family and early life

Francke's grandfather was Christian Friedrich Francke, a descendant of the 18th-century theologian August Hermann Francke (1663–1727), after whom August was named. He married Anna Theodora Weize (b. 1875 Silo, South Africa) whom he met in Kleinwelka, Saxony. Before they married she went to Amritsar for a year to improve her English as a teacher. August Hermann joined her in India and married her there in 1897.

Career

Francke served as a Moravian Church missionary in

, a major region of

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...

and Kashmir Province in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

, from 1896 until 1909. His return to Europe was occasioned by his wife's illness. He was subsequently appointed professor of

Tibetan languages The Tibetic languages form a well-defined group of languages descended from Old Tibetan (7th to 9th centuries).Tournadre, Nicolas. 2014. "The Tibetic languages and their classification." In ''Trans-Himalayan linguistics, historical and descripti ...

. After Yoseb Gergan produced the first draft of the Tibetan Bible in 1910, Francke corrected it and then sent it to David Macdonald, the British trade agent in

Yatung Yatung or Yadong, also known as Shasima (, ), is the principal town in the Chumbi Valley or Yadong County in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is also its administrative headquarters. Name The village is known locally as Shasima (''Shar ...

. Also involved was his Moravian colleague Heinrich Jäschke who produced ''A Tibetan-English dictionary''. Francke became professor at Berlin and his students included Walter Simon.2007: (Toni Huber and Tina Niermann). "Tibetan Studies at the Berlin University: A Brief Institutional History", In: P. Maurer & P. Schwieger (eds.) Tibetstudien. Festschrift für Dieter Schuh zum 65. Geburtstag. Bonn: Bier'sche Verlagsanstalt, pp.95-122.

Works

*190
A Sketch of Ladakhi Grammar
''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal'' 70.1 *''A history of Western Tibet: one of the unknown empires'' *''Antiquities of Indian Tibet - Vol. I: Personal Narrative Of A Journey In 1910 From Simla To Srinagar; Through Kinnaur, Spiti And Ladakh. For The Express Purpose Of Investigating The Buddhist Antiquities; Vol. II: The Chronicles Of Ladakh And Minor Chronicles'
Antiquities of Indian Tibet : vol.1Antiquities of Indian Tibet : vol.2
*''Tibetische Geschichtsforschung und was man dabei erleben kann,'' 1911 *''Tibetan Grammar'' *"Historical Documents from the Border of Tibet." In ''Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India 1909–1910.'' Edited by J. Marshall, Calcutta: Government of India Press, 1914. pp. 104–112. * “The Tibetan Alphabet.” '' Epigraphia Indica'' 11 (1911): 266–273. *''First collection of Tibetan historical inscriptions on rock and stone from Ladakh Himalaya'' (with Prem Singh Jina). Delhi: Sri Satguru, 2003.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Francke, August 1870 births 1930 deaths Tibetologists Translators of the Bible into Tibetan